Posts Tagged ‘CD Design’

By Andrew ValderasBrookesmith natives Sarah (left) and Shauna Dodds won their second Grammy in three years for Best Recording Package on Monday night at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

At the Staples Center, the Dodds sisters and collaborator Dick Reeves from their Backstage Design Studio accepted the illustrious accolade for their work on “Still The King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Willis and His Texas Playboys” by country music group Asleep at the Wheel.

The Grammy is presented for the visual look of an album. It is awarded to the art director(s) of the winning album. This Grammy award dates back to 1959 and has included winning albums from singer Frank Sinatra and rock band The Rolling Stones.

In case you were wondering what we’re listening to in the studio today…. it’s this. What a wonderful world we live in that we got to work with one of our heroes on such an amazing project. If you haven’t picked up a copy ofRobert Earl Keen‘s new record, Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions, get after it.

A while back, around the beginning of the year, we had the pleasure of working with the Wheeler Brothers on their new record, Gold Boots Glitter. The guys had what everyone thought were two separate and conflicting concepts: one being this really rad glitter-filled jewel case cover and felt letters that Patrick had literally taken an iPhone photo of, and the other being this amazing painting by Molly Brau. To us, however, the two melded together seamlessly.

What resulted was a 10-panel digi with custom die cut pup-up and glitter-coated (literally) sleeve. To see it in all it’s glory, check out the vine below.

It’s so much fun pulling these old packaging designs out of the archives to shine a little light on them. This classic Backstage Design Studio gem was for The Britt Lloyd Band‘s 2006 debut record, “Unlabeled”. (co-produced by our good friend Adam Odor)

Cody Gill Band’s debut record, Boxcars, was one of our first packaging designs, and remains one of our favorites. The ornamental design on the front cover was pulled from a vintage book cover, with the addition on two strategically placed dice showing double sixes, or “Boxcars”. Also, each of the background textures were derived from vintage books in the Dodds vintage book collection. Every scratch, fold, scuff, dirt or other gritty gem is authentic and from an old book sittin’ on the shelf at home.

It feels like a lifetime ago that we put this little lady together for Front Porch Texas (comprised of Matt Deaton, James King, Chuck Johnson and Jeremy Barnes ie: the best little Texas Country band you’ve never heard of). It, too, was back in 2004… a long long long time ago. Complete with hand-illustrated she-devil pinup girl, and vintage-style wood block type. I wish I could direct you somewhere to listen to these tunes or purchase a copy, but these have been out of production for 8 some-odd years. So long ago that I’m not sure that we even have a hard-copy, though A while back there was ONE copy for sale on amazon… To create this mockup, we had to dig into the stack of CD backups….that’s right… CD. Backup. Oof. Anyway… here she is:

Rumor has it that FPT is playing a few shows over the next few months in the greater Austin area. Stop by their facebook page for updates on future gigs…

Waaaaay back in 2004, one of the very first projects that Backstage Design Studio worked on was the record packaging for Randy Rogers Band’s 2nd album, Roller Coaster. For this Throwback Thursday, we’re digging it out of the vault to share with you.

This was also one of our first opportunities to work with one of our favorite people on the planet, Will Wright of WillThing.com.

You may not know this, but the cover design was actually hand-painted. The original now hangs proudly on our studio wall.

Attention fellow Texans! The Good Luck & True Love record packaging design has been selected for The 2012 AIGA Texas Show’s Traveling Exhibit, which opens this weekend, here in Austin, at the Gallery Black Lagoon! This too-cool-for-school show will be trucking across the great Lone Star State this summer, making stops in San Antonio, Houston and DFW, before making the long trek to The Big Apple. Yes…THE Big Apple.

If you get the opportunity, between now and August, please plan a visit to one of these fabulous venues to check out the exhibit.

The Annual Lone Star Music Awards were held this past Sunday at the Texas Music Theater in San Marcus, and Reckless Kelly took home four of the coveted Armadillos: Song of The Year ( for “Good Luck & True Love”), Best Americana/Roots Rock Album, Best Album Art, and Cody nabbed Best Musician. Congratulations, guys. You deserve all of it, and then some. We’re just thrilled that you’ve allowed us to tag along for a while! (more…)

Oh Happy Day!!!! There are no words that can properly express how thrilled we are to have found ourselves as Grammy Nominees for the 2011 Best Recording Package late last night for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards! The amount of ‘happy’ that is floating around this studio is immeasurable. Though, I think that if Sarah keeps on screaming, we’re sure to also be finding ourselves with a noise complaint! ha.

A big (huge) THANK YOU to Reckless Kelly for choosing to collaborate on another album with us and for allowing us to go a little crazy on it….and for being crazy right along with us. It was such a great project to have been a part of – any time we get to work with these guys is an honor, in and of itself! If any of you haven’t gotten your copy of the CD yet – get after it! The packaging is only the wrapping paper for a fabulous album.

And, not to get all super sappy, but a big ol’ thank you to our doting parents, Chuck and Donna Dodds for supplying us with that bucket-o-crayons and an endless supply of artsy-fartsy craft gear … and for instilling in us the belief that we can do anything we set our minds to …We love you!!

We’re up against some pretty heavy hitters in our category – all of whom are more than worthy of the honor. We’re both humbled and thrilled to be counted among them. Check out the full list of nominees at by clicking here.

I suppose this is a good kick in the butt to get us started on completing this website, or at least get a good start on it! We’ll be back with more displays of the packaging design, and updates on the other goings-on for Backstage Design Studio!